Unusual apartment project proposed for Midtown Greenway

Two University of Minnesota architecture alums are planning an energy-efficient apartment building they hope will change the way people live along the Midtown Greenway in Minneapolis, but they still need investors to get the project off the ground.

On Thursday, Urbain DRC co-founders and architects Carl Koepcke and Jack Cochran will present their unusual five-story, 55-unit apartment building near the Midtown Exchange to the city Planning Commission’s Committee of the Whole. Both men are design instructors at the Boston Architectural College.

The building design – with cantilevered stories, a glassy exterior and first-floor walkup units – is a departure from the look that has dominated the apartment market in recent years.

Koepcke said in an interview that the project is as much about its future tenants as making a profit, with units able to change in size to accommodate renters and their families as their space needs change. No unit sizes are available yet.

“One of the main things is providing people with a practical, urban living environment,” Koepcke said. “It’s about providing people flexibility to allow people to live the way they want to.”

The building would also have some office space for tenants to work from home.

The unit count isn’t firm yet, but Koepcke said the developers expect to offer about 55 units in the building. Some mix of affordable apartments will be available, although that number still isn’t determined. The remainder of the apartments would be market-rate, although nowhere near the top of the market.

“No one would say we’re not trying to make this a financially successful project,” Koepcke said. “That’s something that’s obviously necessary and will help for this project to not be a one-off, pie-in-the-sky thing.”

Urbain DRC expects to spend about $150 per square foot on the project, the size of which is still unclear. Fundraising efforts are in the early stages. Bringing the project before the city is a way to move the project forward, he said, and to “get the word out and see if we can get connected with anyone who may be able to help us with the investment side of it.”

The project site is 2839 11th Ave. S., on the northeast quadrant of the Midtown Greenway and 11th Avenue. The Midtown Exchange is about a block west, and Abbott Northwestern Hospital is about three blocks northwest.

Koepcke’s family owns at least a portion of the land needed for the project, and the developers are still figuring out whether they want to expand their site with nearby properties.